artisan pizza

The most classic homemade pizza, this margherita pizza recipe features a tangy pizza sauce, gooey mozzarella, and a perfect chewy pizza crust.

Homemade Margherita Pizza (Secrets for perfect dough &amp; sauce!)

Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)

Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel

garlic (1/2 medium)

tomatoes tomatoes

extra virgin olive oil

oregano

kosher salt

pizza sauce

cheese mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

basil leaves

Make the pizza dough

Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).

Make the pizza sauce

Cut the garlic into a few rough pieces. Place the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, oregano and kosher salt in a blender. Blend until fully combined. (You&#8217;ll use about 1/3 cup for the pizza; reserve the remaining sauce and refrigerate for up to 1 week.)

Prepare the cheese: 

If using fresh mozzarella cheese, slice it into 1/4 inch thick pieces (see the photos of the pre-baked pizza above). If it&#8217;s incredibly watery fresh mozzarella (all brands vary), you may want to let it sit on a paper towel to remove moisture for about 15 minutes then dab the mozzarella with the paper towel to remove any additional moisture.

Bake the pizza

When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don&#8217;t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel. 

Spread a thin layer of the pizza sauce over the dough, using about 1/4 to 1/3 cup. Add the mozzarella cheese. Top with a thin layer of fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a few pinches of kosher salt.

Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).

Allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before adding the basil on top (whole leaves, lightly torn, or thinly sliced). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the recipe - where in the oven do you place your pizza stone, top, middle or bottom?

Thank you
Christina :)

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Our best margherita pizza recipe is based on our visits to Italy and years of research! It features tangy pizza sauce & a perfect chewy pizza crust.

Best Margherita Pizza

An artisan, thin-crust dough. Perfectly baked in your home oven!

How to make pizza dough from scratch and shape it like a pro

active dry yeast (4 g)

sugar (1 g)

(24 cl) warm spring water

sea salt (6 g)

(15 ml) extra virgin olive oil

(11 oz) (310 g) unbleached bread flour

flour

fine cornmeal or bread flour to dust the pizza peel

pizza peel (16″ x 18″ paddle)

pizza stone

Place the yeast and sugar in a medium bowl. Pour the warm water over it and whisk until the yeast dissolves. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. When the yeast activates (it’ll start to bubble up to the surface), whisk in the salt and olive oil. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn dough over on your work surface and start kneading it. In the beginning, the dough will be sticky. If it sticks a little to the counter top, that’s fine. Try to knead a little faster to prevent it from sticking. If it sticks a lot, add as little flour as you can to prevent it from sticking to the counter top too much. A slightly sticky dough will yield a wonderfully light pizza crust, so this is a crucial step. Don’t add too much flour or the dough will be firmer and harder to shape, and the crust will be stiff. Continue kneading the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Roll dough in flour until well dusted and place in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, place in a warm place (75°F to 80°F) (24ºC to 27ºC) and allow dough to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size. (If the ambient temperature is lower than 75°F (24ºC), it could take 15 to 30 minutes longer for the dough to double in size.)

Punch down dough and scrape it off the bowl. Cut dough in 2 equal parts and shape each into a ball. Roll each ball in bread flour and place each ball into a gallon-size plastic bag. Seal the bag, leaving plenty of room for the dough to expand, and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 36 hours, until ready to make your pizzas.

Place the pizza stone in the oven, on a rack located at the bottom third of the oven. (The stone should be about 9” from the roof of the oven.) Set the oven to 500°F (260°C) and preheat for 30 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, turn it off and turn on the broiler to high heat. Preheat broiler for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal or bread flour and set aside. Take one piece of dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle top and bottom with a little flour. Gently stretch the dough into an 8″ circle. Next, grabbing the edges of the dough, work your way around the outside edge, stretching it as you go. When the dough is stretched into a 16″ circle, place on the prepared pizza peel. Sprinkle dough with your toppings of choice. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone by giving it a quick jerking movement and then gently shaking the peel to loosen the pizza. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes until the crust is browned on the edges. Slide the pizza back onto the peel and serve immediately. Keep the broiler on and make the 2nd pizza.

This white egg pizza with pecorino and scallions is one of the most delicious vegetarian pizza recipes you'll find! Homemade artisan pizza at its finest.

Egg Pizza with Scallions

ball Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)

scallions (green onions)

mozzarella cheese

Pecorino Romano cheese

eggs

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 475°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).

Prepare the toppings

Slice the green parts off of the scallions so they form long ribbons. In a small skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the scallions and sauté until slightly tender, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel. 

Quickly assemble the pizza

Brush olive oil over the dough and sprinkle with kosher salt. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese, then the Pecorino cheese. Top with scallions. Carefully crack two eggs on top and sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt.

Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone using the pizza peel, and bake until the egg white is set and the yolk is still runny, about 7 minutes.

This mushroom pizza is a white pizza that's covered with mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, and fresh herbs. It's perfection!

Mushroom Pizza with Fresh Herbs

mushrooms

olive oil,

lemon juice

goat cheese, crumbled

chives

 Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).

Clean the mushrooms and slice them. In a saute pan or skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, chopped herbs, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When mushrooms are tender, reduce the heat to low, add lemon juice. Remove from the heat.

 When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.

Brush a thin layer of olive oil onto the crust. Then top with the mozzarella cheese in an even layer, then the cooked mushrooms, and crumbles of goat cheese. Garnish with the chopped chives and additional thyme sprigs. Sprinkle with 1 pinch kosher salt.

Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

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Homemade Margherita Pizza (Secrets ...

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Top 4 artisan pizza recipes from across the web

The most viewed artisan pizza recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Homemade Margherita Pizza (Secrets ...

How to make pizza dough from scratc...

Egg Pizza with Scallions

Mushroom Pizza with Fresh Herbs

The most viewed artisan pizza recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine